Total discharge and out of mind - crazy or bad design?

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ozziea

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#6149 30-Dec-2005 19:24

I have an iPAQ 4705 with a 1GB SD card and a 500 mb CF card. For the second time since I've owned it - less than a year - I've inadvertently allowed it to discharge. The PDA usually will fully discharge over three to four days being off and not used. This is not a problem - my iPod discharges also BUT what the iPod discharges I don't lose any MP3s or my play lists. When the 4705 discharges I lose everything! - Every installed application, my profile, everything. Each time I have to reinstall all the applications including the creation of a new profile.

Is this to be expected? Bad design flaw or am I missing some vital information?

Thank you for any help.

cokemaster

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#25515 30-Dec-2005 19:57

The Ipod uses either Flash Memory or a harddrive to store the music, depending on whether what model. The flashmemory used in the Ipod is nonvolatile so it doesn't lose the contents when power is lost.

The memory used in your PDA probably is volatile so it means that if the power is lost. You can use removable storage such as SD cards to store data that you value. That way if your battery goes flat - you don't loose every thing.

I can't say much about Windows Pocket PC PDA's as I haven't really used them that much... but I'm sure there will be posts shortly from people that do.

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freitasm

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#25518 30-Dec-2005 21:03

Until Windows Mobile 2003 everything is stored in RAM, which is volatile and will not hold information if there is no power.

With Windows Mobile 5 everything goes to flash ROM, and that's why the new devices have more ROM than RAM - this one is only used to execute the programs.

Flash ROM is slower, but does not need power to hold data. On the iPod everything is on a built-in hard disc or flash memory.

So, yes, the behaviour you describe is as expected.

ozziea

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#25519 30-Dec-2005 21:41

So, is there no way to upgrade to the "new, improved" Windows Mobil 5? I know tecnology is "the latest" for no more than a month, but a $500 PDA less than a year old should have some way of accepting an upgrade.

I've been using the 4705 as a GPS in my plane. This practice has now stopped. Back to my old reliable Garmin.

Thank you!

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#25525 31-Dec-2005 08:43

HP was planning to sell an upgrade to Windows Mobile 5 for hx4700...

As far as I know they had some problems with drivers, and the upgrade is now slated for Spring 2006 (US).

ozziea

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#25532 31-Dec-2005 09:57

I guess I need to do my research because I hadn't heard of Windows Mobil 5 - not even in the MS site. Is this a well kept secret?

As far as I recall, I never had this problem when I was using Palm OS. If this is the case then I would say HP and MS has done the public a disservice by not clearly documenting this problem, and it is a huge problem. My friend has a Dell Axim and he claims never to have encountered the problem with his PDA. There should at least be a way of restoring the lost profile and installations - something akin to Window's System Restore. It wouldn't be so much of a problem if a simple restore via Active Sync coud also restore the profiles and programs. This doesn't seem like too much to ask for, does it?

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#25539 31-Dec-2005 11:50

Windows Mobile 5.0 was announced in May 2005, and the first devices running this new version were the HTC Universal, HTC Apache, HTC Wizard - these models all go with different brands around the world (check our Windows Mobile device database). The new Palm Treo 700w also runs Windows Mobile 5.0.

The latest Dell Axim X51 is already running this new version, and there is an upgrade available for the Dell Axim X50 - perhaps your friend is using this?

All older Pocket PC used the same memory management - and the Palm OS did this too, only now the Palm Treo 650 comes with flash memory. This is a pretty recent change in directions in the handheld world.